Weekly SPI edges down by 0.1%

August 23, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan's short-term inflation decreased by 0.1% WoW during the week ended August 22, 2024, while the annual increase was 16.69%, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Friday.

PBS calculates short-term inflation using the sensitive price indicator (SPI) on a weekly basis to assess the price movement of essential commodities at shorter interval of time so as to review the price situation in the country.

SPI comprises of 51 essential items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities of the country. During the week, out of these items, prices of 21 (41.18%) items increased, 9 (17.64%) items decreased and 21 (41.18%) items remained stable.

Major decrease was observed in the prices of Tomatoes (21.96%), Wheat Flour (2.77%), Bananas (2.08%), Onions (1.70%), and Sugar (1.43%).

On the other hand, an increase was observed in the prices of Eggs (6.10%), Pulse Gram (6.05%), Potatoes (2.41%), Cooked Daal (0.89%), and Cooked Beef (0.74%).

The weekly SPI percentage change by income groups showed that SPI decreased across all quantiles ranging -0.05% and -0.24%.

The lowest income group experienced a weekly fall of 0.24%, while the highest income group experienced a fall of 0.05%.

On a yearly basis, analysis of SPI change across different income segments showed that SPI increased across all quantiles ranging between 10.35% and 19.39%.

Yearly SPI for the Lowest Income Group increased by 10.35% while the highest income group recorded an increase of 15.71%.

The average price of Sona urea stood at Rs4,734 per 50 kg bag which is 0.44% lower than last week’s price, while 27.98% higher when compared to last year.

Meanwhile, the average Cement price rose to Rs1,471 per 50 kg bag, which is 1.57% higher than the previous week and 25.19% higher than prices last year.

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